How a Nuisance Character Survives a Horror Game Chapter 19

Now even the system is mocking me…….

Should I beat it up?

However, as the greatest intellectual of this era, I decided to let it off just this once.

Instead, I stared at the demon shamelessly approaching us.

He even waved happily at us.

It looked completely natural.

Like someone who had been stranded alone in the middle of an endless ocean and was overjoyed to finally encounter another person.

His acting was good enough that I might genuinely have fallen for it.

But I knew he was a demon.

There’s no way I’d fall for that kind of act.

More importantly, because I knew about this particular demon, everything he was doing looked incredibly suspicious.

In the game, the four demons didn’t appear until the latter part of the story.

Unlike the events of the early and middle portions, which often changed, the timing of the demons’ appearance never moved forward from the latter part.

When the tension of the story reached its peak, the demons appeared with power so overwhelming that the group could never hope to resist them.

They blocked the humans from escaping.

Again and again, players tasted despair at the demons’ overwhelming strength when freedom had been right in front of them.

In other words, these demons were supposed to appear precisely when the humans’ hope of escaping had reached its highest point.

Which meant Dilaf should absolutely not be appearing yet.

I glanced at Holloway, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“You really are human?”

The only fake humans here are you bastards.

[Dilaf looks you up and down as though evaluating you.]

[Be careful not to arouse suspicion.]

What suspicion……?

Suspicion that I actually know everything?

Since it warned me not to arouse suspicion, I deliberately pretended to be slightly surprised.

“That’s what I was thinking. I thought the only people here were the members of our group……”

I smoothly continued the performance and asked naturally,

“Ah, were you perhaps the person who saved Holloway and me?”

The answer came not from Dilaf but Holloway.

“Big sis, you can’t even recognize the person who saved you?”

“He told me to keep facing the wall. How was I supposed to recognize him?”

“You heard his voice, didn’t you?”

So I should reveal that I know you were the one who saved me, and then you can kill me immediately afterward?

I soothed Holloway as he grumbled irritably.

“Honestly, I was so flustered by the situation that I don’t really remember.”

“Goldfish.”

Drop dead.

“The person who saved you?”

Dilaf cut into our conversation and repeated the phrase.

[Dilaf wonders how he should answer.]

Why are you wondering?

I know it wasn’t you.

Dilaf alternated his gaze between Holloway and me.

Then, apparently coming up with a nasty prank, his lips curved upward.

“Oh, that was probably m—ugh!”

He couldn’t finish.

Holloway had body-slammed him.

He hit him so hard that Dilaf fell backward.

Holloway remained perfectly upright, looking down at him.

Since I was behind Holloway, I couldn’t see his expression.

Holloway approached the fallen Dilaf and grabbed his leg.

That was all he did.

Yet Dilaf’s mournful scream echoed through the hallway.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“…….”

What is he saying?

Holloway was muttering something, but I couldn’t hear a word.

Dilaf slapped his palm against the floor and hurriedly shouted,

“Agh! Fine, I get it! That wasn’t me! It wasn’t! I wasn’t the one who saved that woman!”

If it wasn’t you, then it wasn’t you.

Why are you throwing such a damn tantrum?

I know it wasn’t you.

Holloway knows too.

As expected of the Demon of Wrath, he certainly had a temper.

I called Holloway, who was still down by Dilaf’s feet.

“Holloway, come here. It smells—no, it’s dangerous.”

“Yes!”

He scampered over and tightly hugged my arm.

[Attachment increased by 0.5%.]

[Affection: 7.5%

Attachment: 14.5%

Possessiveness: 15%]

Overwhelming gratitude.

While I mentally thanked Holloway, Dilaf sniffled from where he remained sprawled on the floor.

“You’re seriously insane.”

I think that describes you.

I hurried away with Holloway to escape the clearly unhinged Dilaf.

When we stopped paying attention to him, Dilaf slowly got up by himself and followed us.

Honestly, I had expected Holloway to drive him away and tell him not to interfere.

But Holloway said nothing.

He seemed wary, but he didn’t actively stop Dilaf either.

……Are they trying to surround me?

I tightly gripped the revolver that was practically my lifeline.

Both of their gazes briefly fell on it before moving away.

“Excuse me, why do you keep following us?”

“We’re more likely to survive if we stick together.”

“Holloway and I are already sticking together. We don’t need another cluster.”

“You really just say whatever you want.”

He hit the nail on the head.

***

Maybe it was because there was a demon with us.

We didn’t run into any monsters.

Instead, I found something incredibly valuable.

Namely—

“Big sis, a comb!”

“Good job!”

A comb that could finally calm my uncontrollable hair!

I first soaked my hair thoroughly with water, then took the comb from Holloway and carefully brushed through it so it wouldn’t tangle.

Apparently Holloway found another comb because he diligently brushed the back of my hair too.

Normally, brushing wet hair would damage it.

But I couldn’t afford to worry about something like that right now.

Swish, swish.

The quiet sound of my hair being combed filled the room.

Dilaf looked utterly dumbfounded by how leisurely Holloway and I were behaving, but neither of us bothered reacting to him.

After standing around blankly for a while, Dilaf apparently realized this was going to take some time.

He collapsed onto the sofa opposite us.

Crossing his legs and arms, he watched us crookedly.

I didn’t even look at him.

“Big sis, the back is done!”

“Good. The front is done too.”

Once it had been combed, my hair settled down considerably.

Good.

If only I had a hair tie, it would’ve been perfect.

I decided to be satisfied with this much, and we stood.

Since I needed to keep moving around if I wanted to find the escape gate, our rest was short.

The moment we stepped outside the guest room, a soft lullaby suddenly echoed through the hallway.

Uneasiness immediately swept over me.

If I leave this room, I’m screwed.

When I refused to step into the hallway, Dilaf shoved me hard from behind.

“Agh!”

I was suddenly pushed out into the corridor.

Apparently not even noticing how bewildered I was, Dilaf snapped irritably,

“Why aren’t you moving?! There are people waiting behind you! You’re so damn slow!”

Since when are we close enough for you to talk to me like that?!

“There’s a reason I don’t want to go out! Can’t you hear that sound?”

This sound that’s tightening around my throat!

A lullaby is obviously a sign that either a mother ghost or a baby ghost is about to appear!

I wanted to sprint in the direction where the lullaby wasn’t coming from, but the soft melody approached from both ends of the hallway.

No choice.

I’ll go back into the room.

I tried returning to the guest room we had just left.

Dilaf deliberately slammed the door shut in front of me.

What a rotten bastard……

Before a ghost could appear, I hurriedly tried to shove Dilaf aside and open the door.

Click, click.

It won’t open.

Don’t tell me……!

“Did you lock the door?!”

“No!”

Why are you so proud of that?!

I tried taking refuge in another room, but all of them were the same.

Doors that had opened perfectly well before were now firmly locked.

Just like when I’d run away after leaving Moran and Holloway and then been forced to return.

Did this demon and Holloway do something?

Are they planning to kill me here……?

I haven’t even done anything yet!

While I felt deeply wronged, the sound of wheels rolling echoed from the dark end of the corridor.

Rattle, rattle……

In the faint light coming from the wall-mounted candlesticks, I caught a glimpse of the object.

It was bright red……

“……A stroller?”

Inside the stroller sat a blood-soaked stuffed rabbit, its cotton stuffing sticking out in every direction.

The rabbit bounced with the rattling stroller.

As it steadily approached, a chill ran down my spine.

Something is definitely coming.

Technically something already came.

But something else is coming!

“B-Big sis. W-Where do we go?”

Why do you only pretend to be scared at times like this?

An identical stroller was slowly approaching us from the opposite direction too.

I drew my sword.

Behind me, Dilaf asked in surprise,

“Oh? You know how to use a sword?”

“I know how to hold one.”

For once, Dilaf didn’t respond to my remark.

Clatter!

The two approaching strollers suddenly stopped at the exact same time.

Holding my breath, I pressed my back flat against the wall.

The silence lasted only a moment.

An enormous, elongated white hand shot down from the ceiling like lightning and smashed into the stroller.

CRUNCH!

The impact vibrated through the floor.

Of all times, it happened exactly when I was swallowing.

I startled so badly that I choked.

“Cough! Cough, agh! Cough!”

“Big sis……”

[Holloway wishes you would choose either screaming or coughing.]

[Doing both at the same time is irritating him.]

……That can happen to a person.

Why are you criticizing me over that?

While I complained internally, the air suddenly became cold enough that I could feel it against my skin.

Then long strands of hair slowly descended from the high ceiling.

I followed the hair upward.

Above us was a ghost with blood-red sclera, its mouth torn into a grin while it searched for something.

I held my breath as much as possible and watched.

The instant the monster’s eyes met mine, its grin stretched even farther.

Its cheeks split open.

Thick blood dripped from between the torn flesh.

Every hair on my body stood on end.

White smoke poured from between the lips torn all the way to its ears.

Within moments, it swallowed the entire corridor.

“W-Where are we supposed to……”

“Big sis……”

Holloway hugged me tightly.

There was nowhere to escape.

Huge hands completely blocked both ends of the corridor.

Soon, the fog became so thick I couldn’t see even a step ahead.

Only the monster’s blood-red eyes gleamed through the white mist.

Those wavering eyes curved ominously.

I desperately wished the system would give me a message.

The choices were usually garbage, but at least they gave me some way to escape the situation.

Yet no matter how long I waited, no window appeared.

A gloomy shadow shifted once within the fog.

I tightened my grip on the sword.

Dilaf carefully watched me before casually remarking,

“Hey, wouldn’t the gun be better?”

“That’s right, big sis! You have a gun!”

“Ah!”

Right!

I have a gun!

I put the sword back in its sheath and drew the revolver.

I had to protect myself.

There was absolutely no guarantee the final boss and that demon would protect me.

There were values now—Affection, Attachment, and the others—but none had even reached 20%.

At numbers that low, there was a good chance Holloway himself hadn’t consciously recognized his feelings.

If I ended up in danger under these circumstances, would Holloway save me?

Absolutely not.

If I got cocky and trusted him, I’d be the one who died.

The monsters were sensitive to sound, though……

If we simply stayed quiet, maybe I wouldn’t need to shoot.

“Big sis, aren’t you going to shoot?”

“It isn’t doing anything yet. If we stay quiet, maybe it’ll disappear on its ow—AAAAAGH!”

Before I could finish, a dark-red tentacle suddenly burst from the fog, wrapped around my ankle, and yanked.

I lost my balance and fell flat.

Crash!

“Ugh!”

Sssshhhk!

The tentacle showed no mercy.

Without releasing my ankle, it dragged me toward itself.

I drew my sword and swung hard, trying to cut it.

Clang!

Despite my enthusiastic swing, the sword pitifully snapped in two.

[The sword has reached the end of its durability.]

I lost my weapon without accomplishing a single damn thing.

Are you kidding me?

I violently threw the broken sword aside.

If you were going to do this, don’t tell me you’re giving me a weapon!

The instant I discarded it, Holloway shouted,

“Shoot, big sis!”

You two are only useful with your mouths!

Gritting my teeth, I aimed the revolver at the giant monster’s eye.

Bang!

The bullet vanished rapidly through the fog.

Unfortunately, it didn’t hit the monster.

My accuracy is fucking—

fucking terrible.

Maybe because I was terrified, the hand holding the gun was trembling.

I took a deep breath, concentrated, and pulled the trigger again.

Same result.

A spectacular failure.

“W-What do I……”

[Raise both arms and shout three cheers to increase your accuracy to ‘Perfect Aim.’]

Easy enough.

“Hooray! Hooray! Hoooraaay!”

Being dragged toward a monster and lifted into the air while yelling three cheers made Holloway sternly scold me.

“Big sis, get a grip! This isn’t the time for that!”

“She really has lost her mind.”

Dilaf shook his head as though I were an idiot.

Could you please make the subject of that sentence the system instead of me?

[State the body part you wish to hit.]

“Dead center of the forehead!”

My hand moved automatically.

Through the fog, I met the monster’s eyes, the only thing shining clearly in the darkness.

A bright red dot appeared directly in the center of its forehead.

At the same time, my finger pulled the trigger without hesitation.

BANG―!

The bullet flew straight into the monster.

The destructive power was incredible.

Its brain matter exploded hard enough to splatter toward me.

The tentacle holding me went limp.

Still suspended in the air, I plummeted toward the ground.

“Agh!”

Twist.

I landed badly and rolled my ankle.

“Ugh.”

Before I even had time to fully feel the pain, another tentacle whipped around my arm.

“Why do these damn tentacles only go after me?!”

I screamed, but neither of the two answered.

Of course not.

You two own the place!

Are they even pretending to hide their identities anymore?

Cursing the two infuriating bastards, I fired at the monster holding me.

Missed.

Why did it miss?

Don’t tell me Perfect Aim only works once?!

[If you wish to increase your accuracy, shout three cheers.]

You should have told me I needed to do it every single time…….

I wasted a bullet for nothing.

I quickly shouted three cheers again and aimed for the center of the forehead.

Bang!

The tentacle gripping my arm loosened.

I hurriedly escaped.

The monster gradually collapsed, and thick black liquid spread across the floor.

The fog filling the corridor dissipated as well.

Unable to stand, I sprawled across the floor and caught my breath.

The other two looked full of energy.

Of course they do.

I’m the only one who suffered here.

“Big sis, are you okay?!”

“No.”

I couldn’t even lie and say yes.

“But why did you keep shouting ‘hooray’ when everything was going well? Was the situation fun for you?”

Did it look like I was doing it because it was fun?

“My accuracy increases when I shout three cheers.”

“There’s something like that?”

Yeah.

There is.

Avoiding Dilaf’s fascinated expression, I looked around.

The two dead monsters weren’t moving at all.

‘Is it finally over?’

I wiped the sweat dripping from my chin.

Then I froze.

Too late, I remembered that those words were practically forbidden in horror games.

If you say it’s over, then it’s never over!

―Waaaaaah!

At the unfamiliar sound of a baby crying, Holloway threw himself into my arms.

I stared at the stroller with trembling eyes.

A baby slowly crawled out of the crushed stroller.

―Waaaaaah!

Dilaf shouted at me when he saw me frozen before the creature.

“Hey! A monster came out!”

I know!

“Aren’t you going to kill it? What do we do? Want me to kill it?”

“H-How could I kill a baby like that……”

Even if it was a monster, it looked like a baby……

I hesitated, unable to tell him to do it.

―Kueeeeeek!

The baby released a grotesque shriek.

Its outer layer peeled away—

and an enormous monster with eight arms burst out.

I politely asked Dilaf,

“Please kill it immediately. I think I’m going to faint from fear.”

Holloway and Dilaf both gave me peculiar looks at how quickly I changed my tune.

Dilaf effortlessly sliced the monster’s body in half with his sword.

Does that bastard have any intention of concealing the fact that he’s a demon?

It’s already unbelievable that he walks around perfectly well while blindfolded.

Now he’s displaying that kind of combat ability too?

Dilaf shook the blood from his sword and walked toward me.

For some reason, his shadowed face suddenly looked unfamiliar and frightening.

I hugged Holloway tightly.

Holloway peeked his head out from my arms and smiled brightly.

“You only have one shot left now, big sis.”

“One shot?”

“Yeah. You only have one shot left now.”

Why are they suddenly talking about this?

What do they mean, one shot……

Wait.

Don’t tell me these two……

Did they cause all of this because they wanted to get rid of my weapons?